When Everything Reminds Me Of You
by Rushery
Summary: It was going to be a long day today. Everywhere I look, I'm reminded of memories I've made with you. AU. Rated T for mentions of sexual content, nothing graphic. Sasusaku. Sakura-centric


I'm back!

This one is a sad one, fair warning.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Sakura woke up in a haze of tired confusion as her obnoxious alarm pulled her from sleep. She had slept, but it hadn't been enough; it never was enough anymore. She moved the sheet away from herself and sat up before she could fall back asleep. The floor was cold but everything else around her felt hot.

It was hardly 5:30 in the morning but the air was already hot and humid. She could see the sun shining brightly through the white blinds and felt the thin layer of dried sweat on her skin. The weather was always relentlessly hot during Konoha summers, yet somehow Sakura had never gotten used to it.

She grabbed her medic attire and quickly headed towards the bathroom to shower. The faster this day could be over with, the better.

She turned on the water and began to undress. It was hard not to notice how much she missed him today. If she tired hard enough, Sakura could almost feel his hands removing her clothes and playfully inviting her into the shower. She took in a big breath and sighed before stepping into the shower alone.

It was going to be a long day today.

* * *

She grabbed what she needed from the fridge and shut it before turning around to face the stove where her half cooked omelette was waiting. Judging by the smell and the sound of oil crackling oil at the bottom of the pan, it needed to be flipped. For a brief moment she remembered how he would always cook her omelettes for breakfast before her shifts at the hospital. The man was arrogant enough to never ask her if she wanted anything else to eat, but he was also observant enough to know she never did want anything else for breakfast.

She missed that.

Sakura finished cooking and ate before grabbing her coffee and left to the hospital. She greeted the staff at the front counter and made her way to the elevator, chatting politely with one of the nurses on the way up. They parted ways as they stepped off the elevator at the top and Sakura continued towards her office.

She was glad to be here today.

It was easy to rationalize being emotionally removed for the sake of professionalism here. Kami knew she needed to be professional today of all days.

She continued towards her office.

Sakura reached down for her keys and unlocked the door. As it opened, she could almost see his muscular frame leaning against her desk, waiting for her with that irresistible smirk on his handsome face. Time had been nothing but good to him. He grew more handsome and masculine with age and more muscular to accommodate the amount of high-ranked missions he took as his skills improved.

Memories of gentle kisses and passionate embraces flooded to her until she turned around and closed the door.

Perhaps she needed to change offices.

* * *

Sakura's morning dragged on at a painfully slow rate. Paperwork was a very boring task and Sakura unfortunately spent most of the morning doing just that. Luckily around 11 she was called to an emergency surgery for an incoming shinobi.

Surgery would be the perfect thing to accelerate this day.

Sakura rushed down to the operating room, scrubbed, and walked in to see what she would be dealing with.

The unlucky shinobi had been ambushed by a small squad from Amegakure and was in rough shape. After a full examination with her chakra, Sakura had determined that the patient had a flail chest, a dislocated shoulder on the same side, and had lost an impressive amount of blood due to deep lacerations on his abdomen, thigh and collarbone. On further inspection she found that the collarbone under the laceration was cleanly broken, and one of the kidneys appeared to be bruised.

Kami this guy was in rough shape. He wasn't beyond saving, but she would definitely be here a while. She hadn't recognized his name during her quick patient briefing so she looked down to see if she recognized his face.

 _Black hair. Of course he would have black hair today of all days._

She could see the streaks of blood that stained his hair and belatedly wondered if he had any loved ones.

 _Of course he does. Now get to work, his loved ones don't deserve to miss the patient like you miss him_.

She chided herself and immediately got to work.

* * *

Sakura was exhausted.

Her surgery had taken 10 hours and most of her chakra reserve. She normally worked 12-16 hour shifts, but today definitely called for an early (if 9pm could be considered early) return to home.

She couldn't wait to take a shower.

Sakura sluggishly walked the 20 minutes home and swore she saw the back of his head mixed in with the crowd at the market. They had shopped at this market frequently but now that he was gone, Sakura only ever walked through to get home from work. She really needed to sleep.

Sakura reached her doorstep and pulled her keys out of her bag, opened the door and sighed with relief that she was now home. The pinkette undressed as she walked on her way to the bathroom, not wanting to think about having to pick it up later. But as she finally made it to the bathroom she looked back at the trail she had left, and realized she missed the trail of a man's clothes mixed in with her own.

' _Think we have time for a quick shower, Sakura?' He knew she couldn't resist that damned smirk and his aura practically screamed_ race you to the bathroom _. Before he could blink she was already undressing as fast as she could while sprinting to the bathroom. He huffed in amusement. 'You're gonna need that head start.' She heard him say before feeling him scoop her giggling form up into his broad shoulders and carry her to their destination. They never ended up in the shower, due to having a quickie on the counter then taking a hot bath together after. They continued to make love through the night after deciding to stay (forgetting their earlier plans) in together._

Sakura pulled herself out of the now painful memory, and pushed onwards to clean herself. Surgery had been taxing and she was looking forward to a dreamless sleep after bathing.

* * *

Her wish of an easy, dreamless night was haplessly unmet.

Sakura tossed and turned in her bed for ages until she decided fresh air from the moonlit sky might help her sleep.

She changed into more appropriate clothes and jumped out her window, then onto a roof to make her way to the forest. The forest was always most quiet this time of night.

As she thought, the forest was without a sound on arrival, and Sakura began walking around aimlessly to clear her mind. She didn't pay much attention to her surroundings until she almost walked into a tree. The kunoichi shook herself out of it and looked around to see where she was.

She wished she had stayed in bed.

Sakura knew exactly where she was. She would never forget the thrill of him taking her in the open forest against that tree. She remembered it because he had specifically chosen a tree that was a bit flatter instead of a round one. After all, it was her back that had been pushed against it.

Sakura sighed in defeat. Perhaps she should make a trip to visit him tonight. She hadn't planned on doing so for a much longer amount of time, but she couldn't let her past haunt her like this. She needed closure from his absence.

She jumped into a tree and bee-lined at shinobi speed to where she knew he would be.

* * *

It didn't take her long to get there. The opening was tucked into the forest where many other shinobi could easily find the route. Sakura approached the opening and stopped before she could go any further. A sudden wave of nausea overcame her and she felt a sting at the corner of her eyes.

 _Maybe I shouldn't be here._

But it was too late now; there was no turning back.

Sakura pressed on to the center of the clearing where the memorial stone was. She stood in front of it and searched for his name, unsure of what to expect when she saw it.

 _Sasuke Uchiha._

But even if her mind didn't know what to do when she read the words, her body did. The sting in the corner of her eye turned into hot streaks running down her face as she stood there.

This was a memorial stone committed to those who had died in the line of service, and Sasuke Uchiha had died a year ago today at the age of 22.

Sakura hadn't wanted to come here for this exact reason. She was sure she would break down when she read her lover's name on the stone and sure enough, she clutched her face as her sobs increased in volume.

She missed him.

Missed him more than anything in the world.

And Kami did it hurt to have him gone.

Sakura had been sure at his death that her life would never be the same without him, and so far she had been right.

At least she had spent 4 solid years as his lover, partner and friend. In the end, she couldn't ask for more than that. He had left her with years of memories for her to take to her eventual grave.

But for now, Sakura Uchiha continued to mourn the loss of her husband in hopes of closure.

* * *

Phew! I don't really know where this came from, I started writing the first part a while ago and finished it up today.  
I'm so sorry! Definitely had a tear or two while writing this. But that's why I love writing. It evokes so many emotions.

On a side note, I promise to try and update Sometimes pretty quick here. Any requests for prompts?

But review if you liked it, I'm always always happy to read reviews from you guys :)  
Until next time!


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